We headed into Suva yesterday with a list of things to do and places to go. At the top of the list was BioSecurity to get our $3,000 back. Being Monday, we figured to wait till the afternoon once they had had their lunch and the normal Monday crunch would be over. So instead we started touring to see more of Suva.

We started at one of the bigger hardware stores, Carpenters looking for a rivet gun that will install stainless steel rivets. While I have a big gun, it's apparently not geared for doing stainless, just aluminum rivets. I didn't realize that when I brought back a bunch of stainless rivets from the US last year. Now I'm in search of bigger gun. No big rush as I haven't used what I have and only found out that they don't work when I pulled out my tool box for a different project and just happened to put one of the rivets in the gun. Oh well. So far, after half a dozen shops, no gun but the search continues today.

We headed out to the Indian section of Suva to look for a good curry restaurant for lunch. It took a while and some walking but we found "The Curry House". They offer a bunch of curries including Goat curry. I stuck with the more traditional chicken and even opted for the more expensive "boneless chicken". At $3.00 more, it was an extravagance but easier to eat. It came with a nice bowl of chicken curry, pile of rice(rotis are available), something that had potatoes in it and a small bowl of soup. Add in a spoonful of chutney and it was quite the plate of food($8.80) Tracy had a veggie Thali($5.50). A plate full of different small bowls of different things(don't ask me what they were but she enjoyed it.

Once done with lunch, we took off the the Federated States of Micronesia Embassy to put in our application for a cruising permit. We included with our application, copies of our passports, a crew list and a copy of our US documentation. The woman behind the desk couldn't have been more helpful. She took everything and scanned them into her computer and emailed them to person in FSM that handles the application. She stamped ours showing that we had sent it in and sent us an email latter confirming that she had sent the forms. It doesn't get much better than that.

Once done there, we hiked back to the bus station and while Tracy went to the HUGE veggie market, I walked over the BioSecurity. It was just after 1400 and everyone should be back from lunch.

As I walked in, the woman I had spoken to last Friday jumped up and greeted me. She went to check to see of the check was signed and ready. Unfortunately, it wasn't signed(no clue as to who signs them) and if it was possible, could I come back tomorrow afternoon when she was sure it would be signed. "Sure" was my response. Never press a government official especially one that controls the refund of $3,000 for us. She said it might take till Wednesday but she would try and get it signed. The "boss"(sat behind a bigger desk) of the office told her to tell the person that signs them that I needed the check on Tuesday since I had started the process last Friday. "No problem"I told them and we all had a nice chat for a few minutes(where we had been and where were going and how much we had enjoyed Fiji) and I left for the bus back to Zephyr with Tracy.

That's about it for yesterday. Today, back to Suva for more exploring and get that check.